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Matej Mohoric wins the Tour of Germany

In the finale of the fourth and final stage of the Tour of Germany, Matey Mohoric had to mobilize his full potential to seal the overall win. But in the end, BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM’s Slovene got to celebrate his second stage race win within as many weeks. At the Vuelta a España Ion Izagirre has moved into 5th overall after the first two stages.

With Saturday’s stage win in Merzig, Matej Mohoric got hold of the overall leader’s red jersey as well, but the margins before the final stage were tight: Maximilian Schachmann trailed at just 6 seconds with Nils Politt 10 seconds back. So the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM had to put all its resources into defending that jersey and securing the overall victory at the Tour of Germany. For the first couple of hours of racing, the riders in red, gold and dark blue managed to keep control of the race. When Vasil Kiryienka and Rémi Cavagna attacked early on, Niccolo Bonifazio latched on their wheel. But as these two strong rouleurs posed no real threat in the overall standings, Bonifazio dropped back to the main bunch to help control the lead of the attackers. In doing so, they also got support from a couple of other teams.

The true fireworks only came out once the race hit the final hilly loop around Stuttgart: Once Cavagna had been caught, the remaining riders up front took a moment to regroup and check the situation. On the approach to the Herdweg climb, the speed went up drastically. Matej Mohoric could not follow the wheels of some strong rivals towards the end of this climb, but thanks to his descending skills and a favorable race constellation, he managed to close a gap of 20 seconds on the way to the finish, getting back to the leaders on the penultimate kilometer. While the sprint for the stage win was won by Nils Politt, Matej Mohoric crossed the line in 2nd, securing the overall victory in the 33rd Tour of Germany. For BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM’s Slovene, this was his second stage race win within as many weeks. He also won the points standings and the young riders’ classification of the race.

Living up to its reputation, this year’s Vuelta a España served up a first small mountaintop finish at Caminito del Rey right after the prologue. The last early attackers were caught early on the final ascent, but it was not hard enough to force a real selection. Thus about thirty riders rolled onto the penultimate kilometer. In the end, Ion Izagirre conceded eight seconds to the day’s stage winner Alejandro Valverde, crossing the finish line in 15th. With this result, he moved up to 5th in the overall standings. At the one-day race Bretagne Classic as the third race of this Sunday, the BAHRAIN MERIDA PRO CYCLING TEAM counted on Sonny Colbrelli as its captain. Abysmal weather conditions made for a true battle of attrition that saw a three-man lead-group sprinting for the win in Plouay. In their wake, the peloton split into various groups, and Sonny Colbrelli crossed the finish line in 20th.